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Old Eladio Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

I may be wrong

1b01i01u00First of all I would like to thank Milky, CJ, Paco, Philip, Rishonly and Goodman (others?) for their comments to my posts. I’m very grateful for this.02br
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01b00Now please, consider this:02b02br
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01b00I suppose we all would agree that all human beings 01i01u00are able to make mistakes02u02i00, so we all make mistakes. As in the American movie (1959) “Some Like it Hot” by Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, etc., “Nobody is perfect” (last speech of the film). Following this thoughts, a sentence like “I 01i01u00can02u02i00 be wrong” seems not to have 01u00real02u00 sense. For this reason (I believe) I much more often hear “I may be wrong”, which would mean with some uncertainty that perhaps I’m wrong. But yesterday, I heard “I can be wrong”, told by a person that looked well-spoken – That was said not with the meaning of “of course I’m a human being and I’m able to be wrong”. So,02b02br
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01b001.- Is it correct to say “I can be wrong”? (I’m not talking about grammar, but about common correct use)02b02br
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01b002.- Is “I can be wrong” often used in everyday conversation?02b02br
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01b003.- Is “I could be wrong” a common appropriate phrase? If yes, when I should use “I may be wrong” and “I could be wrong”. 02b02br
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01b004.- Is in this context “I may be wrong” the same as “I might be wrong” (I suppose almost nobody uses 01i01u00might02u02i00)02b02br
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00Eladio (Maybe acting as a perfectionist English learner, but Nobody is Perfect) And thank you in advance!0-
  

Top answer

0I imagine that they are all used (01i 00I can/could/may/might be wrong02i 00), to mean the same thing. Individuals may have their own preferences as to which they habitually use. 85 million02br 00I can be wrong -- 63,7000-

— Mister Micawber

  • 0I imagine that they are all used (01i 00I can/could/may/might be wrong02i 00), to mean the same thing.
  • Individuals may have their own preferences as to which they habitually use.
  • 85 million02br 00I can be wrong -- 63,7000-
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2 Answers
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0I imagine that they are all used (01i00I can/could/may/might be wrong02i00), to mean the same thing. Individuals may have their own preferences as to which they habitually use. In my experience, 01i00can02i00 is the least common form.02br
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00Did you ask Ms Google?02br
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00I could be wrong -- 3.1 milli
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1font00Hi Eladio,02font02br
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01b001.- Is it correct to say “I can be wrong”? (I’m not talking about grammar, but about common correct use)01font00 No, it's not common.02font02b02br
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01b002.- Is “I can be wrong” often used in everyday conversation?0
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